Memories
by Eckabeb
Summary: A woman in her early 30's. Multiple events occur, in the past and present, along with small flashbacks to help explain the story.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: I don't know what I'm going to do with this quite yet. I'm more or less just writing to get some stress off my chest for now. If I get a review or two I'll probably write some more. If not, I might add on another few chapters just for fun. This is my first time actually publishing something on fanfiction so if something isn't italicized or in bold or whatnot, I'm sorry. I'm sure with practice I'll get it down. Also, sorry that this chapter isn't full of glory. Haha. Again, this is more-so a stress reliever than anything else. I've read quite a few stories on here for about 6 years now so that's about all I'm familiar with when it comes to this wonderful site. So, questions, comments, flames? Leave a review and I'll get back to ya'. Tahtah for now. :)

**The Aftermath**

Sigh.

_ There it is again. That same old sigh, just another time._ The woman thinks to herself, her mind once again wandering back to a year ago. _A year ago... has it only been that long? How time flys when you're having fun.. _

She could see it clearly, her husband laying stiffly in the hospital bed; a sterilized smell kept making the hairs on her arms raise. They both had known what was coming. The cancer had hit hard and fast, spreading quickly through the bloodstream to his brain, among other organs. They had prepared for this moment for a long time. She could remember him looking dead, wondering if maybe he really was already gone but it just wasn't showing yet, and then he'd take another shallow breath. By the time the end came, Jeff was down to 22 seconds between breaths...

Elizabeth sighs again. _And I thought that was the worse that could happen... _She stares ahead, her grey eyes relaxing before misting over with memories from just a few months after her husband's death.

It had been all over the news. The plane with the Army's new recruits that had been headed to the Middle East had some type of mechanical failure halfway across the ocean. The plane that had been carrying her little brother. The same little brother she had pleaded with not to join the Army. Not to get himself killed... For all anyone knew, they could still be out there somewhere, a few of the soldier's still alive; no one for sure actually knew though since none of the plane had been found, it was just assumed that they went down in the ocean.

_ Why did it have to be them?_ She thinks before taking another deep breath, grabbing her empty coffee cup and scooting her chair back from the table, the chair making a loud scraping noise in the small coffee shop. Her face turns a light shade of red as a few eyes glance over to the 'noise-maker'. She lowers her head a little in a silent apology before heading over to the counter. The young clerk smiles at Elizabeth as she walks up.

"See you tomorrow, Ms. Hargly?" Benjamin asks politely as she drops the change she had been given earlier into the small tip jar.

She smiles back, creases forming along the edges of her eyes; creases that she had earned from the past year's worries. "Of course. See you tomorrow, Ben." Elizabeth gives the teen a nod farewell before heading toward the door. She stops by the overflowing trashcan on side of the store's door, dropping her empty coffee cup on top of the trash before pushing the old, creaky door open and stepping outside.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Ahhhh, it's been a year since my last post. ;x I'm so bad. Well, this is just a random story that I came up with on a whim. Questions/Comments/Whatever, let me know in a Review! Until then, enjoy!

When she opened the shop's little door the wind gushed through, blowing her hair around her face and giving her chills. Ah, it was almost Christmas... why did this always feel like the loneliest part of the year? Elizabeth began walking, wrapping herself tighter in her jacket and crossing her arms against her chest.

"...eah, he's taking me out to a fancy cafe in downtown. Ah, I'm so excited!" Two young women walk past Elizabeth, their perfume overwhelming and making her cough a little. "So he's going to propose to you there for sure then?" The second girl asks her friend as they continue walking, glancing over her shoulder and noticing a coughing Elizabeth. The first girl answers, sounding a little like she was pouting, "Oh yeah. I've seen the ring. He has _sooo_ much money, but the ring is so _small_. I was hoping he'd buy me one with lots of jewels. Afterall, that's why I'm marrying him!" The two walk around the corner, their laughs echoing out into the morning air.

Elizabeth sighs, thinking back on her own engagement with Jeff; it was definitely a marriage of money.

It had been a wonderful time for her. They had only been together for three months but they had both known it was love at first sight. Jeff had proposed to her outside of her parents own doorstep after bringing her back home from "The Hill" where all young couples used to meet up back in that small town. Elizabeth had been ecstatic about the proposal, even though the ring wasn't even real.

Since neither of them had much money and Jeff was the only one that was actually working, the ring wasn't "fancy" in the sense that it had jewels all over. Jeff had always been great at crafting items from wood by hand, so he had used this skill to make her an elaborate ring, full of little designs along with their names carved in on the inside of the ring. The ring was Elizabeth's most treasured item for years after.

She shakes her head, now walking up a flight of stairs to the second floor where her apartment is located. _The times have definitely changed. Everyone's so fast paced, in such a hurry all of the time... striving to get better jobs, make more money, buy better objects... if everyone would just slow down a little, take a look at their surroundings, then maybe they would understand what they are really seeking in this madness called Life._

Unlocking her door, Elizabeth steps in to be greeted by her cat, Lolo. She closes the door, smiling and walking over to the sofa to sit down. Lolo follows her, his tail high in the air until he crawls into her lap, purring as she pets him. "That's right, my treasured, little Lolo." She rubs his ears absentmindedly while thinking about when she first found him... or rather, when Lolo found her.

It was the first night she was to spend in the new apartment. She had sold her house and a lot of her belongings when Jeff passed away, and still in mourning about her beloved husband, she had been staying with an old aquaintance until that night. Elizabeth plucked up the courage and decided to finally officially move into the new apartment. By the time she had gotten the movers to bring everything that was left out of storage that she kept after her husband's passing to the apartment, it was nightfall.

She remembers being exhausted from trying to move her furniture around enough where she kind of had a living room to sit in and relax when she heard a noise coming from outside and opened the door to see what was going on. It was as if Lolo knew she would need a company; he waltzed right in as if he had lived with her his whole life, tail in the air, the tip twitching left and right. She remembers being shocked as Lolo had walked and jumped up onto the her husband's chair, as if it had been his all along, and curled up, staring at her. Elizabeth had broken down into pitiful sobs, leaning aganist the door and sliding to the floor, everything that had been pressing on her shoulders finally lightening with every heave as she cried. As if on que, when she was in the midst of her moment, Lolo had walked over to her and rubbed against her leg. He climbed into her lap and sat there, as if waiting for her to finish and telling her he was there for her.

When she'd calmed down a little, she finally examined the cat. At the time, Lolo was probably only about a year old and in rather good condition considering he was just wandering around outside. He was a silver tabby cat, but with one white ear. Elizabeth remembers being a little intrigued by that part of him. How strange for just one ear to be white. Lolo was never a shy cat, but he stayed at her side from there on out.

Elizabeth closes her eyes, humming a quiet toon. Surely her days would pass quickly from now on. Surely... they must.


End file.
